Sustainable Park Strip Part Two: Prepping Your Ground

How to Prepare Your Park Strip for a Sustainable Makeover

Welcome back to our series on converting a boring grass parkstrip into a sustainable mini-meadow!

In part one, we covered the research and planning steps you need to take before diving into your project. Now that you’re ready to roll up your sleeves, it’s time for the real work—site preparation.

Step 1: Removing the Grass (Or Gravel)

In most park strips, you'll find good old Kentucky Bluegrass, a water-thirsty lawn variety. If you're living in the western United States, where water conservation is key, replacing this grass with a drought-tolerant landscape is a smart move. Digging out the grass is essential. You can either do it the hard way (by hand) or use sheet mulching—a method where you layer cardboard over the grass and top it with compost and mulch.

However, in narrower park strips like mine (about two feet wide), mounding materials might spill onto the sidewalk. So, digging out the existing grass or gravel is the best approach for a clean, crisp result. It’s labor-intensive but necessary for long-term success.

Step 2: Digging and Adding Mulch

In a perfect world, I’d dig three to four inches down (three inches is necessary, four is ideal) across the entire park strip to add a one-inch layer of compost and two+ inches of wood mulch. The goal is to create a moisture-retaining layer without spilling onto sidewalks or curbs. If you have a wider park strip (around eight feet), you can dig deeper closer to the concrete edges and mound up the soil toward the center.

Step 3: Careful Digging Around Utilities

As you're digging, be mindful of utilities like gas lines, water pipes, and even fiber optic cables. If you have delicate tree roots or young trees nearby, you’ll want to dig by hand in those areas. Using heavy equipment, like an excavator or skid steer, may not be practical for narrow strips or areas with sensitive landscaping.

Before you start, call 811 to flag utilities, giving yourself at least a week to avoid fines or damage. It’s crucial to know what's underground before you dig.

Step 4: Handling the Biomass

Displacing sod creates a surprising amount of waste. If you don’t have a truck to haul it away, consider renting a dumpster. Or, if you're into composting, mix the removed sod with leaf mulch and wood chips to create nutrient-rich soil for your garden. A little patience, and in about a year, you’ll have incredible garden soil to use around your yard.

Step 5: Budget Constraints and Rebates

The budget can be a major design constraint. Luckily, some cities offer rebates for converting grass to water-saving landscapes. In my case, I’m getting about $350 back for converting my park strip. However, even with that, the total cost is likely to land between $850 and $900 once I factor in compost, mulch, irrigation, and plants. Setting a budget ahead of time helps you avoid overspending.

Step 6: Planning Your Irrigation

If your park strip had sprinklers for the grass, you can cap those off and install drip irrigation to establish your new plants. The goal is to create a drought-tolerant landscape that, after the first few years, requires minimal water. Drip irrigation helps during the initial establishment phase, but after a few years, you can switch to occasional watering during particularly dry spells.

Conclusion

That wraps up part two of our four-part series on creating a sustainable park strip. In the next post, we’ll dive into selecting the right native plants for your specific eco-region. Stay tuned, and get ready to transform your park strip into an eco-friendly, water-saving space!